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MakerBot’s New Digs!

Andrew — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:03:24 +0000

Well the Wall Street Journal has let the cat out of the bag: we’re moving!

It was just a few weeks ago that I mentioned on this blog that MakerBot had outgrown the Bot Farm on Dean Street in Brooklyn. Today, we’re thrilled to announce that the growth has continued, and we’ve signed a lease to take this show on over to Metro Tech Center in Downtown Brooklyn.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, we will have the entire 21st floor at One Metro Tech, which is over 31,000 square feet.

View New MakerBot Headquarters in a larger map

31,000 square feet! Do you know how many MakerBots we can put in there?! I’m just spitballing here, but I’d guess, like, a million.

As anyone who owns a Replicator knows, we’re a proud Brooklyn company — I say that because with The Replicator, we started lasercutting the word Brooklyn into every machine we produce. We’re super proud to make our products here.

This move to Metro Tech in a couple of months really cements that. We’ll be a member company of the Brooklyn Tech Triangle – that’s Downtown, DUMBO, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and we’ll be joining other awesome tech companies and institutions like NYU’s planned Center for Urban Science and Progress.

Important! We will still be lovingly assembling MakerBots in the BotCave on 3^rd Avenue! The machine that will ultimately live on your desk or work table will still be put together and tested inside these handsomely rugged spaces that have become sort of famous. Here’s are some shots of the BotCave through the years.

Below is the press release on our upcoming move, including statements from our new landlord, Forest City Ratner Companies. You may notice that there’s no mention of abiding by Asimov’s three rules of robotics at our new space, which is a stipulation in our current lease:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

As Bre told the WSJ, not having this in our lease means we’re officially grown up! (But, okay, just so there’s no confusion: we still promise.)

One more little aside: as we grow, our community learns more and more about where we work. So many people have visited the BotCave and BotFarm. But that’s not what community is all about! We want to know where you all work, too. Whether it’s in a highrise building or a circus tent, or if your home and family are your work, we want to see where you spend your days. Send us a pic or tweet it to us @makerbot. Maybe we’ll get enough and we can do a nice slideshow to show what a broad spectrum you all are.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Contacts:

Michele de Milly/Laura Dolan

ldolan@getodemilly.com

212-686-4551

MakerBot to MetroTech!: Downtown Brooklyn and FCRC Welcome Innovative 3D Printer Phenom to MetroTechCenter in Brooklyn’s “Tech Triangle”

Growing 125-employee Brooklyn manufacturer plans

to add 50 jobs in 2012 alone

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK – May 7, 2012—Forest City Ratner Companies is delighted to welcome the rapidly expanding 3D printer manufacturer MakerBot Industries to MetroTech Center. The 125-person company, which will be expanding to MetroTech this fall, is representative of the bold new wave of creative, entrepreneurial, technology-based tenants whose products and ideas are defining Brooklyn and New York City’s future.

The expansion of MakerBot to MetroTech is a modern-day Brooklyn success story. In 2009, former Seattle schoolteacher Bre Pettis and partners Adam Mayer and Zach Smith co-founded the company with the goal to democratize 3D printing—and business is booming.

Named one of the top 20 startups in NYC, MakerBot is a champion of innovation and shared knowledge, seeking to enable the children of today to solve the problems of tomorrow. The company manufactures The Replicator™, a compact, open-source 3D desktop printer used to make anything up to the size of a loaf of bread out of plastic. In addition to practical applications like designing a replacement knob for a stove or air conditioner, it can produce toys, models,and sculptures as boundless as the imagination. MakerBot has been featured in The New York Times, Wired, Colbert Report, Fast Company, Engadget, Make: Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone,Time.com, IEEE Spectrum, CNN, Financial Times, NPR, the Economist and others.

“MakerBot is a great example of why Brooklyn is known far and wide as a hub of innovation,” saidBruce C. Ratner, Chairman and CEO of Forest City Ratner, “and we welcome its creative energy to MetroTech Center and Downtown Brooklyn. As you may know, MakerBot manufactures a wildly popular 3D printer called The Replicator™ and we can confirm that Forest City absolutely intends to replicate just what we’ve done today—helping inspiring startups like this one to reach the next phase of their development and bring their expanding operations to MetroTech’s modern office space, where we can accommodate their need to continue to innovate and grow.”

MakerBot, founded in Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill neighborhood, will be leasing a full floor (31,250 square feet) at One MetroTech Center on the 21st floor. Plans are for 50 employees to remain at the company’s current location (87 3rd Avenue), while the rest move to MetroTech. The company expects to create a minimum of 50 jobs in 2012 alone at the new location.

“Expanding to MetroTech is a great move for us, and we’re glad Brooklyn can accommodate us as we grow. The “can-do” spirit of Brooklyn is in each machine that goes out the door— we even laser-cut ‘Brooklyn’ into the back of the machine next to the power button to show our Brooklyn pride.” saidMakerBot co-founder Bre Pettis, “What gets us most excited is when young people get access to a MakerBot in the classroom or because a parent decides a child should grow up understanding the digital design tools of the future. There’s no sign that demand is slowing down anytime soon. It won’t be long before having a MakerBot in your home is as common as having a microwave!”

The announcement comes on the heels of the recent commitment by the City of New York and an academic consortium led by New York University to establish a cutting-edge center for research and science in Downtown Brooklyn. As a cornerstone of the Brooklyn “Tech Triangle”—which includes Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO and the Brooklyn Navy Yard—MetroTech already leases space to Polytechnic Institute of New York University, and looks forward to becoming home to more techtenants in the months ahead.

“New York City is the world’s premier digital city, and MakerBot’s expansion in Brooklyn is another indicator that, as Mayor Bloomberg keeps saying, this is the golden age of digital and tech in New York City—and we are just getting started,” said the City of New York’s Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne “Congratulations to Bre and the entire MakerBot team for their growth and for helping to make New York’s tech community great.”

Downtown Brooklyn has always been home to pioneering entrepreneurs whose individual spirit has collectively shaped our community”, said Tucker Reed, President of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. “MakerBot’s products empower individuals to realize their vision by giving them tools to custom design everyday items, a business model that reinforces the ethos of Downtown Brooklyn and helps solidify our arrival as a center for innovation and entrepreneurship. We are thrilled they are joining us.”

The leasing effort was led by MaryAnne Gilmartin, Executive Vice President of Commercial and Residential Development for Forest City Ratner Companies, along with Ali Esmaeilzadeh, Vice President of Commercial Development and Leasing and CBRE’s MaryAnn Tighe, Howard Fiddle, Keith Caggiano and Evan Haskell. MakerBot was represented by Cushman and Wakefield’s GlennMarkman, Joe Cirone.

About MakerBot Industries

MakerBot Industries brings the future to your desktop with affordable MakerBots. The company’s latest model, The Replicator™, won CNet’s ‘Best in Show’ award for Best Emerging Technology at CES2012 in January. MakerBot’sonline community at Thingiverse.com allows users to freely share digital designs and collaborate. From the practical to the amazing, from remote control cars to bathtub plugs to wonderful 3D sculpture, Thingiverse.com has new things every day that can be made on a MakerBot. www.MakerBot.com

About MetroTech Center

MetroTech Center is a $1 billion commercial, academic, and high-technology office complex on a10-block, 16 acre site in Downtown Brooklyn. Designed around a 3.3-acre landscaped commons, MetroTech Center includes the construction and renovation of more than five million square feet of new commercial space. Below-ground public parking is available at four buildings in MetroTech Center.

About Forest City Ratner Companies

FCRC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises, Inc., owns and operates 32 properties in the New York metropolitan area.

About Forest City Enterprises

Forest City Enterprises, Inc. is an NYSE-listed national real estate company with $10.5 billion in total assets. The Company is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate and land throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.forestcity.net.

CNET Test Drives The Replicator

Andrew — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:27:47 +0000

…and lurves it.

CNET’s Rich Brown has some nice things to say about The Replicator, “the most capable 3D printer for under $2,000.”

Yes, but it’s also fun. And what did Rich use that Mr. Jaws clip for?!

Stay tuned for Rich’s full review of The Replicator, which is due out tomorrow.

MakerBot Thing-O-Matics: Where We Are Now

Andrew — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:59:47 +0000

A couple of comments have come in through the blog, our twitter, and our Facebook channels to the same effect: does MakerBot still sell the Thing-O-Matic?

Let’s clear this up!

Kits

Since The Replicator launched in January, we have continued to ship Thing-O-Matic kits. We are, however, now completely out of stock of the Thing-O-Matics. We will no longer be offering the Thing-O-Matic for sale.

Support

For those who already own Thing-O-Matics, we absolutely plan to continue our support efforts for the foreseeable future. Please feel free to contact Support at the email address below with your needs.

If you’d like to get some insights from other community members, check out the forums on Support pages, or for the more advance user, dig into the MakerBot Operators Google Group.

Parts

We do still have several relevant replacement parts in stock that you may be interested in. If there’s something that you need, and you don’t see it on the store, drop us an email tosupport@makerbot.com. We’ll do our best to find what you need to get you up and running.

Feedback From You

No matter what MakerBot 3D printer you are using, we value your input and participation on this blog and in all community outlets. Got a question about an event? Want to chime in with an idea for a blog post? Feel free to drop a line to tips@makerbot.com.

How To: Apply Smooth Platform Tape

Andrew — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:19:49 +0000

A tweet:

You’re not wrong, @Matt_Dexter, our Productors are fairly wizardly. But luckily they share their secrets!

One of our videos has the answer for perfectly applying your kapton tape. Watch from the 0:35 mark. With a little practice and patience, yours too will be smooth as a baby’s build platform.

A Whole New Way To Draw! StippleGen

MakerBlock — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:00:50 +0000

An excellent portrait of Grace Kelly

I’m really excited about StippleGen. And, if you like drawing, robots, or drawing robots I think you’re going to be really excited about it too. StippleGen is a new free open source program released by our friends Evil-Mad-Scientist-Laboratories. If you’ve ever purchased or coveted an EggBot, you definitely know who they are.¹

For most CNC machines (such as a MakerBot Unicorn, EggBot, or DrawBot) a traveling salesman / single line art drawing is easiest produce. Single line drawings are faster than drawings comprised of more than one line, since the drawing robots don’t need to spend time lifting up the pen. However, if you’re going to require a pen-lift for a drawing, you might as well do it with style – such as with stipples.

Definitely check out EMSL’s blog post announcing StippleGen for more information about this cool program. It can be used to create an SVG file showing a TSP-style path, a stippled image, and apparently a combination of the two.

I cannot believe I didn’t go for the egg puns here…

Now On Deck: Egg-Bots!

Andrew — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:33:11 +0000

Baseball Egg for Egg-Bot by HooDat

One of the best things about Easter is that its season frequently coincides with that of the sacred American holiday known as Opening Day.

It’s baseball season, everyone! The phenomenal, baseball-inspired egg pictured above is a great reminder that the Evil Mad Scientist Egg-Bot is not just an Easter accessory. In fact, it’s not even only for eggs. From our product page,

The Eggbot is super adjustable, and is designed to draw on all kinds of things that are normally “impossible” to print on. Not just eggs but ping pong balls, light bulbs, mini pumpkins, and even things like wine glasses– with a bit of work.

For our friends outside the US, the egg shape certainly lends itself to printing a rugby ball, don’t you think?

If you don’t have one of these gadgets yet, hop over to the MakerBot Store. This really is a toy for all seasons, and the possibilities are endless.

Baseball Egg for Egg-Bot by HooDat

A baseball patern for plotting with the Egg-Bot

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You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby!

Andrew — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:17:29 +0000

Check out @schmarty‘s photo of his three generations of MakerBot. Left to right: Cupcake CNC #131, Thing-O-Matic #5564, and Replicator #7516. What a handsome family!

You can check out the evolution of Schmarty’s Things on Thingiverse, too.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer Tours MakerBot

Stef — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 22:18:45 +0000

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has been a vocal fan of MakerBot , even shouting out the company in his state of the borough address.

Today, Stringer visited MakerBot HQ for the first time and got the grand tour.

Bre shows the BP around the BotFarm

Bre explaining how The Replicator works

Stringer left MakerBot with his very own 3D printed Empire State Building!

The MakerBot Replicator User Guide!

Melody — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:00:23 +0000

If you’re the kind of person who can’t resist taking a peek at presents before it’s time to unwrap them you’re in luck! You may not have your Replicator yet, but the new Replicator page will walk you through the unboxing, setup and first print, as well as giving you your first look at things like DualStrusion and the Replicator’s schematics.

If you’ve waiting for a bot, reading through this will give you a head start when your package arrives. If you’re still considering whether to purchase a MakerBot, this will give you an in-depth look at the process of using one. Also, these pages also include some excellent tutorial videos expertly directed by MakerBot TV’s own Annelise!

With this manual, we’ve really put a lot of work into showing how to get started with the Replicator, and how to use MakerBots in general. Our goal has always been to lower the bar for access to 3D printing, and this is the start of a big push to make the process of learning how to MakerBot more approachable.

So come on over and check out the brand new Replicator User Guide. If you’ve got notes for us on what works and what you’re still confused about, leave a comment here or email us at support@makerbot.com!

Turning The Replicator inside out

Melody — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:40:05 +0000

MakerBot is all about open source, so for us, the release of The Replicator includes the release of the things that went into it. So, here’s what may be the ultimate Thingalert: The Replicator and some of its components are now officially Things on Thingiverse, complete with wiring diagrams, lasercut drawings, and downloadable models of parts.

So, have at it. The designs for The Replicator are yours to play with. Modify! Redesign! We’re hoping for a lasercut diamond case, since apparently they can do that now — or, if you haven’t got large enough diamonds lying around, maybe an acrylic one? Surprise us.

The MakerBot Replicator by makerbot

The Replicator is MakerBot's newest and best yet personal 3D printer. With a build envelope that’s roughly the size of a loaf of bread, it gives you the power to go big, and with the new MakerBot Stepstruder MK8, built-in Dualstrusion is possible for the first time.Technical Specifications Printing • Build envelope: 225 x145 x150 millimeters or 8.9 x 5.7 x 5.9 inches • Build Volume: almost 5 liters • Layer thickness: Choose .2-.3mm with stock nozzle. • Stock nozzle diameter: 0.4 mm • Speed: 40 mm/s • Flow rate: approximately 24 cc/hr • Maximum recommended extruder temperature: 230 C • Maximum temperature for heated build platform: 120 C • Positioning precision: 2.5 micron on Z axis 11 micron on XY axes Electronics • MakerBot MightyBoard single-piece motherboard • 5 axis, 1/16 micro-stepping motor control • 4x20 LCD character display and multi-directional control pad • Piezoelectric buzzer • Software-controllable RGB LED lighting • Universal Power Supply - 100-240V, 50/60Hz, 4.0A (input), and takes standard IEC cable Software • Controlled through ReplicatorG™ • Compatibility: Linux, Windows, and OSX • Print from SD card or over USB • Input file type: STL, gcode Materials • Works with ABS, PLA, and other materials • Filament diameter: 1.75 mm Mechanical • Linear ball bearings • Precision ground 8 mm shafts • Durable ABS injection-molded parts • Snap-on, snap-off carriage assemblies • Overall dimensions: 320 x 467 x 381 millimeters or 12.6 x 18.4 x 15 inches • Shipping weight: 32lbsSupport and Documentation Find the Replicator User Guide at makerbot.com/replicator/docs

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MakerBot MightyBoard RevE by makerbot

This is the MakerBot MightyBoard, a revolution in 3D Printer Control Technology. Use it to power your MakerBot Replicator 3D Printer. Here are just a few things the MightyBoard can do: control up to 5 stepper motors with BotStep Stepper Controllers, control up to two extruders (with heater cartridges, safety thermostats, thermocouples, and fans), control the Replicator Interface Board, connect to up to 6 endstops, control RGB LED light strips, control a heated build platform, and much much more! Even more features: -Pizeo Buzzer -Lots of Debugging LEDs and extra I/O pins broken out for hacking -Access to I2C and UART for hacking -Hardware-based safety cutoff for extruders -Extra FET for hacking -Arduino Mega Compatible -digitally-controlled potentiometers for setting motor currents (no more trimpots!) Designed by Jeremy Blum. This is part of The MakerBot Replicator, which you can find at thingiverse.com/thing:18813

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MakerBot BotStep17 REVE by makerbot

The BotStep17 plugs into the MightyBoard to control the stepper motors on your MakerBot Replicator. Designed by Harry Mulliken. This is part of The MakerBot Replicator, which you can find at thingiverse.com/thing:18813

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MakerBot Replicator Heater Board REVB by makerbot

For use with the MakerBot Replicator. This guy gets HOT! The heated build platform evenly heats the base of your 3D print, ensuring good adhesion to the platform. It features an on-board thermistor so that the software can monitor and control its temperature. Designed by Alison Leonard. This is part of The MakerBot Replicator, which you can find at thingiverse.com/thing:18813

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MakerBot Replicator Interface Board REVB by makerbot

The Interface Board is a PC-free controller for your MakerBot Replicator. When hooked up to the Replicator's MightyBoard, the interface controller can be used to jog the printhead, run calibration scripts, initialize and monitor prints, and more! Designed by Will Sakran. This is part of The MakerBot Replicator, which you can find at thingiverse.com/thing:18813

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